The present application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/487,396, filed Jul. 17, 2006, which claims priority to Japanese patent application No. 2005-208044, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to vehicle brake control, and more particularly to vehicle brake-by-wire control.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-168536 shows a brake-by-wire system, henceforth referred to as “BBW system”, which includes an accumulator for storing pressurized brake fluid and operates hydraulic brakes by supplying the pressurized brake fluid to wheel cylinders. Under normal operating conditions, the brake fluid pressure of the accumulator is kept as high as possible in order to quickly supply a hydraulic pressure needed to generate a desired braking force. This BBW system includes a stroke simulator for allowing a desired brake pedal stroke and further providing a simulated feel of brake pedal depression to the driver.